🔗 Share this article Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch Reportedly Blessed Fox News Strategy to Air 2020 Election Fraud Claims, Hearing Reveals. In a pivotal legal proceeding on Tuesday, a attorney for the voting technology company Smartmatic argued that senior leaders at Fox News, specifically Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, sanctioned a deliberate strategy to embrace baseless assertions of voting fraud promoted by Donald Trump. “The conservative viewers, their bread and butter, deserted them,” stated J Erik Connolly, the company's attorney. “So what do they do? They return back to what they know best: they return back to misinformation, political propaganda and fear-mongering. The election narrative and the election fraud claims were the perfect tool for them to return to their core messaging.” A Massive Defamation Case Is at Stake During oral arguments, both parties pleaded with the New York state supreme court judge David B Cohen to decide on critical elements of Smartmatic's $2.7 billion legal action before a possible trial in the coming year. The company maintains that Fox leaders hatched a plan to “shift” to the former president's allegations to recapture disaffected viewers. Fox's Vehement Denial A lawyer for Fox News, speaking for the network, strongly contested these accusations. “No campaign of misinformation was ordered,” he said. “It is completely false. It is not supported by the record. It is hogwash. It is made up by lawyers on the other side.” He further asserted that the Murdochs, who held ultimate control over the network, “issued no directives to cover Smartmatic or the fraud claims.” The Central Legal Hurdle: Proving “Knowing Falsity” To win its case, the voting firm will have to demonstrate that important personnel at Fox News were aware the allegations were false but allowed them to be aired regardless. In its filings, Smartmatic cited internal communications showing hosts like Jeanine Pirro and Maria Bartiromo voicing skepticism about the claims while also expressing a desire to assist Trump. The network's attorney argued that Smartmatic has “grossly exaggerated” its value and the projected financial losses from the coverage. Fox contends its personalities were merely discussing newsworthy claims from the president's associates, not endorsing them. “This lawsuit really isn't about Fox's coverage of the 2020 election,” said Allen. “It's about Smartmatic's effort to capitalize on remarks made by the president's lawyers to rescue its financial livelihood.” A Precedent Is Highly Relevant Smartmatic's case closely mirror the prior defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox. In that matter, a judge's summary judgment decisions were decisive, finding that Fox's broadcasts were false and defamatory per se. That ruling was later cited as a key factor in Fox's choice to settle with Dominion for $787.5 million. A previous Fox legal officer remarked that the judge's pre-trial rulings had “severely limited” the company's ability to defend itself at trial. Judge Cohen's Stance Judge Cohen offered few hints of his thinking but informed Smartmatic's lawyer that establishing “knowledge of falsity” for a summary judgment would be a “hard sell.” He stated he planned to examine all pertinent broadcasts before making a decision. “I think I have sufficient information, evidence, legal briefs, diagrams, graphs and everything I need to reach a verdict,” he told the two sides in the case.